Molded sign character



June 26, 1951 F. P. MITTEN MOLDED SIGN CHARACTER Filed Nov. 23, 1948 ATTO R N EYS' Patented June 26, 1951 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE MOLDED SIGN CHARACTER Frank PQMitten, Redlands, Calif. Application November 23, 1948, Serial No. 61,582

1 Claim. 1

My invention relates to molded articles par ticularly characters such as letters and figures used for advertising displays or the like.

The invention comprehends a novel sign character such as letters and figures, so molded as to provide a smooth uniform and accurate finish with the walls of uniform thickness, to render the opposed surfaces thereof parallel and free of rough, ragged or jagged edges, corners or projections thereby avoiding unevenness and producing a sign character or figure having a better and more attractive finished appearance.

My invention has for a further object to provide a novel sign character or figure which may be produced from moldable material having the above stated characteristics upon hardening, and having a recess around the margins or corners of the character or figure at the back thereof for preventing the formation of marginal fins or flanges around the character.

To these and other ends my invention comprises further improvements and advantages as will be further described in the accompanying specification, the novel features thereof being set forth in the appended claim.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a front elevation of a sign character or figure made in accordance with my invention.

Figures 2 and 3 are vertical and horizontal sectional views taken on the section lines 2--2 and 3-3 respectively of Fig. 1.

Figure 4 is a top view of an open face of a mold suitable for forming the novel sign characters.

Figures 5 and 6 are sectional views taken on the section lines 5-5 and 6--6 respectively of Figure 4, and

Figure 7 is a view of the mold as it is distorted and stretched to an open position to permit removal of the character.

Similar reference numerals, in the several figures, indicate similar parts.

Referring to the drawings in detail, I0 designates a character or figure, represented as a letter of the alphabet, several of which it will be understood are assembled to make up a sign or line of reading matter. It is molded of suitable composition material which may be pliable, soft, fluid, semi-fluid or capable of being extruded or poured, such as a gypsum mixture, a synthetic resin or phenol condensation product, Lucite or Plastic Wood which hardens on allowing the same to stand. The walls II forming the depth of the letter are preferably of uniform thickness, their depth exceeding their thickness, and their faces are provided with a smooth finish. The front and back surfaces l2 and I3 are in parallel planes.

The corners I4 on the front are formed on a small radius, or slightly rounded, for the dual purpose of improving the looks of the article and preventing their being chipped in handling. All of the inner and outer sides or surfaces I5 and I6 throughout the depth of the walls II are parallel, and the corners of the walls at the back I3 of the letter, formed by the juncture of the side or inner and outer surfaces I5 and I6 therewith and perpendicular thereto, are formed with continuous surrounding rectangular marginal recesses, rabbets or inwardly stepped offsets I1. The latter I provide for two reasons, viz. when a letter is mounted in fiat contact against a supporting surface this undercut enhances the appearance of the letter by emphasizing the parallelism of the side walls and also assures to the sharpness of the rear edges of the letter. To carry out this illustration I make the rabbet or undercut approximately of the proportions shown in the drawing. Secondly this undercut aids in the molding of the letter. Being on the back of the letter which is uppermost in the mold, it eliminates the formation of rough or jagged edges, especially thin sharp knife-like projections known as fin formations created by surplus material in the fluid state overflowing the face of mold, on normally visible portions of the latter. Any such fins will be formed only on the edges of the back surfaces I3 and any chips formed in such edges by removal of the fins will not be visible from the front because the edges on which they occur are recessed.

In order to anchor the sign characters to a mounting surface, suitable means may be provided such as sharp pointed pins I8 which are embedded in the walls I I before the mixture becomes set or hardened. These pins are disposed perpendicular to the opposed parallel front and back surfaces I2 and I3 equidistantly of the thickness of walls II or between inner and outer surfaces I5 and I6 or otherwise with their inner ends held in the walls and the pointed ends thereof projecting at the back to pierce, by being pressed into a support, as will be readily apparent and understood from Figs. 1, 2 and 3. I have shown by way of example, and for illustrative purposes only, the letter B, however, it is to be understood that the individual figures of different shapes representing different objects may be similarly formed and used either independently or in collective assemblies.

In Figs. 4 to 7 of the drawings, the mold and method of producing or making the characters therein are depicted. The mold is indicated generally by I9 and while it may be of any shape, it is shown as a rectangular block having uniform flat sides and formed of soft flexible material such as elastic rubber sufficiently rigid to sustain itself during the molding operation, yet capable of yielding to a degree of distortion which will .allow :the hardened .contents to 'be ejected. The body of the wall is formed with 2. cavity corresponding in shape to the character or figure to be produced, in this instance conforming to the letter B. The cavity 20 shaped to form the desired character terminates short of or in spaced relation to the bottom surface .2; of the mold block or body l9 producing the walls 22 and inner bottom surfaces2'3 *againstwhich the material of the character or figure forms the front face I 2 thereof while the back face i3 terminates at the open side of the cavity 2!! and "top surface 24 .oflthe mold [9 when the cavity is filled and the material is allowed to set and harrlen and form a hard, solid body. The sides 2! of '.the cavity or cavities form Ithe surfaces 1.5 and I6 of the molded article and the inner corner: 26 of the cavity are formed concaved ona small .radius at2'l to produce the convex radius corners l4.

In order to produce the marginal corner recesses, rabbets or olfse'ts 11 .at the back of the molded article, the mold 'body 19 around the open end or mouth of (the cavity 20 at the to o'f the opposed inner and .outer sides thereof, is formed with overhanging marginal lips 01' flanges 28 so that when the cavity is filled witl: the material and smoothed off Iflush with the top surface 24 of the mold, said'lips confine the material therein to .form saidrecesses by a reduction in the thickness of the walls ll around their margins. After the article becomes hardened, the ,mold walls may be distorted orstre'tched out of shape as shown in Fig. 71to enlarge the Width of the cavity including cores 29 and 30., .such as employed in molding the letter B, so that the character ormolded article may be easily ex-- 4 pelled or withdrawn from the mold and the latter again used in the manner described.

I claim:

A three-dimensional sign character such as a letter or figure of solid molded material having a fiat rear surface adapted to be attached to a flat supporting surface and viewed by looking toward said supporting surface, the outlines of said letter or figure delimiting the side surfaces of said character, said side surfaces being smooth and extending at right angles to said rear surface of the character, said character having a marginal recess or rabbet formed in the letter at 'the time it is molded and coextensive with and underlying said side surfaces at their juncture with the fiat rear surface and following the outlines of the letter or figure so that the edges of said rear surface are effectively concealed when said character is in place on a flat surface whereby the juncture of said recess with said side surfaces appears to be the rear edge of the character as normally viewed.

FRANK P. NrITTEN.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the ifile of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS (1st addition to Pat. 407,028) 

